Before she could make up her mind if the risk was worth the potential rejection, Dragon leaned in and brushed his lips to hers. The kiss was sweet enough to cause cavities, and although it had arousal thrumming between her legs, she wanted so much more. Wanted to tangle her fingers in his hair, wanted their tongues to duel, wanted his hands on her body, roughlymassaging her breasts, then his fingers plunging inside her. She wanted him to take what he needed from her instead of being so worried about what he should give her. Because his pleasure would be her own.
But the kiss didn't progress anywhere, and her hope dimmed as he straightened and reached around her to open her door for her. He was never going to be comfortable giving her the kind of intimacy she craved.
“Sleep well, little rabbit.”
Since she didn't want to embarrass herself, she nodded and hurried into her room, closing the door behind her. She had to figure out a way to enjoy what Dragon wanted from her, or she was going to lose him forever, and she didn't want that.
Stripping out of her clothes, Cassandra headed into the bathroom, turning on the shower and stepping under the spray, making an attempt to keep her stitches dry. As warm water rained down upon her, she slipped her hand between her legs. Her bundle of nerves was already throbbing with need, and if she could just make herself come with nothing more than touching it, then maybe she stood a chance at giving Dragon what he wanted.
Circling her bud, she tried to find her rhythm. Pleasure built in her system, she grew wet and thrust a finger inside herself. Finding that magical spot she knew was in there, she brushed her fingertips against it with each thrust, and her thumb worked her bud, as she chased the pleasure that seemed to remain just out of reach.
Tears of frustration built as she tried so hard to climb to the peak, but the more she tried, the further away it seemed to get, until she gave up with a frustrated groan. This was useless. She couldn’t come from just a little touching, and she’d never come if the sex didn't involve bruising grips, a sting of pain, adominating, demanding lover who commanded her pleasure like it was their right to do so.
“Dragon,” she whispered helplessly to the empty room. “How can you not want me the way I need to be wanted?”
Chapter
Fourteen
January 7th
11:15 P.M.
He was still standing outside Cassandra’s door.
Unable to move away.
She was in there, and she wanted him, and it had taken all his self-control not to deepen the kiss, ravish her mouth until she couldn’t think straight. Desire didn't just pulse through his system, it pounded through it, consuming him.
But if he allowed it to consume him, he’d have her naked beneath him, pounding into her until he lost control and took what he needed without keeping a clear enough head to ensure that she got what she needed as well.
That was a line he couldn’t allow himself to cross.
There was no way he would ever do anything that would jeopardize her safety and her well-being. She’d been through a lot these last few months, and he knew she’d been holding on by a single thread even if no one else in her family had realized it.
He had been the only one not to fall for her act, and it seemed to be working, having her there with him. With his team. Shehad a family who loved her unquestionably, who would move heaven and earth for her, he had no doubt about that, and he knew Cassandra didn't either.
But he and his team offered her something else.
They offered her freedom from being seen as the baby of the family. The somewhat spoiled, but ever sweet and bubbly little sister who needed to be protected and coddled. Her family saw her decision not to join any form of law enforcement or military as her being weaker than the rest of them. Not in a bad way, he doubted they even saw that they did it, but their protective instincts had been kicked into high gear, losing their parents the way they had, and because she hadn't had formal training like they had, they continued to protect her as though she were still a five-year-old girl.
Only the woman who had just walked away from him was the strongest he’d ever met. Strength came in all different shapes and sizes, and that his little rabbit could learn she was the biological child of a rapist who tried to kill her family, and then was the one who took him out in the end, proved that you could be small and sweet but still strong.
“Remember that, little rabbit,” he murmured as he pressed his palm to the door separating him from what he wanted, what he craved. “Don’t ever forget that you are strong enough to do anything. Don’t let anyone ever make you feel weak. You can conquer the world, and you can do it with a smile on your face, and nobody will even see it coming.”
Arousal began to filter through to him.
The scent was heavy with caramel, and he knew his little rabbit had been left hanging tonight.
“Sorry, Cassandra, but I won't take you until I know I can do it the way you deserve.”
Because his strength only went so far, Dragon turned his back on the door to his little rabbit’s room and headeddownstairs. If he stayed, he’d throw caution to the wind and find Cassandra in the shower and show her that only he controlled her pleasure. That she came when he told her to, and how hard he told her to. He would show her an entire world of pleasure she didn't even know existed.
But not yet.
Not until he got himself under control.
Since arousal consumed his system, and he needed a way to let it out without taking the stairs three at a time and breaking down Cassandra’s door, Dragon headed for the gym. He’d go a few rounds with the bag and hope that was enough to work out the excess energy buzzing through his veins. He could always go to his room, hop in the shower, and get himself off to thoughts of his little rabbit doing the same thing a floor beneath him, but for some reason, finding pleasure without Cassandra felt like a betrayal.
